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In an interview with Mark Odell of the Financial Times, he said that without a crew, there would be no need to include critical systems such as sewage treatment. This would lighter ships and fuel savings.

A European Commission-financed academic research project, dubbed Munin, also argues an autonomous ship would be safer.

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There are currently unmanned vessels at sea in the form of drones, small craft that are used for military operations and more recently for survey work. Pictured is the Eclipse unmanned surveillance vessel which can operate 24 hours a day

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CREWLESS SHIPS?

Crewless ships would do away with human costs which range between 10 and 30 per cent of operating expense

There would be no need to include critical systems such as sewage treatment which would mean lighter ships and fuel savings.

A European Commission-financed academic research project, dubbed Munin, also argues an autonomous ship would be safer.

Technology, it said, could take over tedious and repetitive tasks such as watch keeping at sea, reducing the risk of accidents due to fatigue.

A crewless ship can also better maintain something called slow steaming, which means the ship travels as significantly less than maximum speed.

Slow steaming can be a way forward to achieve fuel savings with a typical bulk carrier operating at a 30 per cent reduction in speed saving around 50 per cent in fuel.

The project found that three quarters of maritime accidents are down to human error and a significant proportion of these are caused by fatigue.

Technology, it said, could take over tedious and repetitive tasks such as watch keeping at sea.

The technology to design such a vessel already exists. There are currently unmanned vessels at sea in the form of drones, small craft that are used for military operations and more recently for survey work.

Global communications satellites have the power to provide enough bandwidth to navigate the ships remotely using feed from onboard radar and cameras.